This invention relates generally to cooking appliances such as cooktops and ranges and more particularly to cooling the control electronics in such appliances.
Modern cooking appliances increasingly incorporate electronic control systems for controlling operation of the appliance. These control electronics are ordinarily contained in a separate control box located in close proximity to the heating elements of the cooking appliance. In many cases, these control electronics need to be protected from the high temperatures generated by the cooking appliance. The control electronics are also typically cooled in some manner to protect them from the heat generated by the control electronics themselves, particularly the portion of the electronics involved in power control.
In many conventional cooking appliances, the control electronics are cooled by forced convection, typically a fan arranged to blow cooling air over the control electronics. However, the use of a fan is often undesirable because of the noise associated with a running fan. Furthermore, fans can add to the overall cost of the appliance and typically carry a relatively high service call rate.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a cooking appliance in which the control electronics are cooled by means other than forced convection.
The above-mentioned need is met by the present invention, which provides a cooking appliance including a burner box having at least one burner assembly disposed therein and a control box containing control electronics. The control box is spaced below the burner box so that a gap is created between the burner box and the control box, and a plurality of fins is formed on at least one wall of the control box for cooling the control electronics by natural convection.
The present invention and its advantages over the prior art will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings.